BROOKLINE, Mass. — Pastor Terry McCann was pleased to see his associate pastor interviewed on the local news about helping to solve school truancy. But he was mortified when the associate used the word “sucks.”

“I called him immediately and said, ‘What on earth are you doing?'” says McCann. “He told me, ‘Relating to the younger generation.'”

The staff of Rolling Hills church is evenly divided over whether the word “sucks” is appropriate or not.

“I don’t think twice about it,” says the youth pastor who uses it commonly with youth.

He and others send out emails that remind their co-workers to “Let no unclean words proceed from your mouth.” Some roll their eyes at the “sucks police.”

The singles pastor, a die-hard “sucks” devotee, responded one time with a reply that said simply, “That sucks!” He included a photo of a vacuum cleaner in the message, to cover himself.

During a recent sermon while McCann was on vacation, the college and career pastor used the word “sucks” off-the-cuff. When his wife pointed it out, he absconded with the sermon recording so McCann wouldn’t hear it. But McCann found out anyway because members of the church sent him angry emails.

McCann finally insisted that no church staff member use the word, especially during ministry. He suggested alternatives like “that stinks” and “that’s terrible.”

“Saying something stinks sounds like you’re just afraid to say ‘sucks,'” gripes one staff member who says it “may take me a while to get around to changing my habit.”

Meanwhile, McCann recently used the words “scumbag” and “brown-nose” in a mid-week sermon. Staff members later called him on the carpet.

“Do you know what those words mean?” they said with mock outrage. McCann looked up the definitions, turned red and vowed to ban the words from his vocabulary. •